Bitcoin Daily: Off-Blocks’ Government Digital ID App Rolls Out To Consumers; CHO Tracks Its Olive Oil Production With IBM Blockchain Tech

Digital signature platform Off-Blocks has launched a beta of its digital identity mobile app, according to a report Tuesday (Jan. 14) by Coindesk.

The app is a public version of the anti-forgery, blockchain-powered application that it has been building for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

CEO Colin Campbell said that people and companies all have a need to confirm the authenticity of documents, and while signing PDF contracts may be well known, more digitized working habits mean a need for more robust platforms.

Campbell said that Off-Blocks is meant for the every day, all-situation user, who might need to verify the authenticity of a music file, a video or even a screengrab.

“The big difference is you can sign any file in any format, however it’s presented to you,” Campbell said. “Imagine how you could interact with the digital world around you.”

Campbell wants to bring the technology to the wider population, and he said that a second-layer solution was the “only way to bring [the] masses to blockchain.”

In other news, one of the largest olive oil producers in the southern Mediterranean, CHO, said Tuesday (Jan. 14) that it was using IBM blockchain technology to trace its Terra Delyssa extra virgin olive oil. CHO is the latest major food company to join the IBM Food Trust Network.

The move will allow CHO to track Terra Delyssa through eight quality assurance checkpoints, from where the olives are grown to where it’s distributed.

Vice President of IBM Blockchain Supply Chain Solutions Ramesh Gopinath said in a statement to Cointelegraph that using blockchain tech allows for a verifiable record of where everything was produced down to the bottle.

“The best part of the IBM Food Trust network is its ability to connect members of the supply chain together, like the end consumer with the farmer. CHO has done just this, as every entity involved can share data, which not only provides traceability and food information, but also shows where food trust is heading in general,” he said.